Talladega Nights

Arrogant but successful NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby (Ferrell) lives by the motto 'if you're not first, you're last', garnering him much success on the race track. His immaculate reputation is threatened, however, when a French Formula One driver known as Girard (Cohen) turns up to piss on his chips and steal his crown as the king of NASCAR. Many folk believe Anchorman to be as close to cinematic comedy Nirvana as you can pretty much get; thus Talladega Nights had huge boots to fill, especially since it comes from the same directo, with Ferrell again on co-scripting duties. Predictably, though, it never scales the illustrious heights of the talented comedian's now signature role. This is essentially because the comedy here is painted on a much broader canvas than Anchorman, which in turn alienates Ferrell's core audience and the folk who climbed aboard because of the smart improvisational comedy and unique humour that made Anchorman the cult classic it now is. That said, as a standalone film, TN is quite often laugh-out-loud funny with John C. Reilly stealing many of the scenes as the dim-witted but sweet Cal, who is forever finishing second to his success hungry partner. On a par with say Adam Sandler's later offerings, this is comedy gold; it just doesn't push the boundaries and take it that extra step. When you're willing Ferrell to let lose and just run with it, he remains frustratingly restrained (for him), trapped in a character that should've rivalled Ron Burgundy for quoteability and sheer brass balls. Time will tell just how re-watchable Talladega Nights is, but something tells me it won't have the same dedicated cult following as its predecessor. A mild success for all concerned, but these guys are better than that.